The Mission

We would like to introduce you to our friend, Joe Labriola. He
enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1965 at the age of seventeen,
and he served as a squad leader with Delta Company, First
Battalion, First Marine Division in Vietnam. He was among the very
first of American troops to make a helicopter assault landing into
Viet Cong controlled territory in 1965 and 1966. After being
severely wounded in combat, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the
Bronze Star with combat “V” (for valor). (See
star and citation.)

After service
in Vietnam (twice), Joe was selected to be a primary marksmanship
instructor at Quantico — a top honor and tribute to his
skills as a marksman and leader. He trained the elite of the elite
to be snipers, including members of various agencies as well as
other military personnel. When he completed his assignment at
Quantico, he completed recruiter school and had the distinction of
being the youngest recruiter in the entire country when he was
stationed in Brockton, Massachusetts.

In his twenties, Joe and the Marine Corps went their separate
ways. Joe sought the freedom of a somewhat gypsy lifestyle. In the
early 1970s, employment for a Vietnam veteran, even a highly
decorated one, was hard to come by — thanks in no small part
to the Hollywood stereotypes of what Vietnam vets were like.
Antiwar sentiments ran deep in our nation. Protests, marches,
demonstrations, and campus sit-ins were the norm. All vets were
named Calley, having fired rounds in a remote village called My
Lai. And Americans saw stark images nightly of the horrors of war,
including images of women and children burned by napalm.

This was the social and political backdrop of the time during
which Joe became entangled with a drug dealing, government
informant, ex-con named Arthur Motsis. Arthur Motsis sold him
marijuana which Joe resold, thus beginning a nightmare struggle
with the Massachusetts “Just Us” system. In 1973, Joe
was convicted of killing Arthur Motsis and sentenced to serve the
rest of his natural life at hard labor.

Joe's trial, in Dedham Superior Court, was infected with
ethnic and political biases, raising similarities with another
trial (coincidentally in the same courtroom): that of Sacco and
Vanzetti. Sacco and Vanzetti were characterized as anarchists and
referred to in court as “grease balls” and
“wops” (referring to their Italian heritage). In those
days, being labeled an anarchist was comparable to being labeled a
member of “Al Qaeda” today. Although Joe was not called
an anarchist, he was labeled a Vietnam veteran, which in the late
'60s and early '70s conjured up visions of mentally deranged killers.
It was the time of the White Tower sniper in Texas and of My Lai,
and Joe's Vietnam service record was used to greatly damaging
effect by the prosecutor.

Where Sacco and Vanzetti were called
“greaseballs” and “wops,” our friend Joe
was called a “hitman” by members of the prosecution
team. In this instance, the ethnic bias hung in the courtroom
throughout the trial, as though having an Italian surname created a
pathway to organized crime. There was a tremendous amount of
inference because “Crazy” Joe Gallo, Joe “The
Animal” Barboza, Joe Vallachi, and Jimmy Hoffa were also
nightly news stories. What wasn't said was that there was
another man living in Massachusetts, also named Joe Labriola,
who was a mob associate.

This venomous atmosphere helps explain how an innocent Marine
could be convicted of a crime without direct evidence.
Consider these key events and decide for yourself how fair you
think the trial was:

Joe's attorney, Richard Barry, had been a law partner
with George Burke, then the head of the Norfolk County District
Attorney's office (which prosecuted
Joe).

Joe was denied access to, and copies of, all police reports in
his case.

Joe was, and still is, denied a copy of the Minutes of the
Grand Jury that delivered his indictment. (See refusal. and see Joe's recent motion.)

Joe's then roommate, Bobby Rogers, was jailed for two
days and threatened by the prosecution that if he did not testify
he would remain in jail. This information was later provided to an
appellate court through an affidavit (but was dismissed as
irrelevant). Additionally, Rogers' own criminal record was
not made known to the court.

Joe was not allowed to sit with or confer with his attorney
throughout the trial and was banished to the second row of the
spectators' section, flanked by armed and uniformed deputy
sheriffs (see diagram).

Joe was unable to hear testimony against him due to a hearing
loss suffered in Vietnam and due to his placement in the back of
the courtroom. Some 26 times the court reporter recorded
Joe's complaints about not being able to hear testimony.

The DA used Joe's honorable service against him and
screamed at him while he was on the stand, "Isn't it
true that you were in Vietnam? Isn't it true you are used to
killing people and killing is no big deal?"
(See transcript.)
The DA was
admonished by the Court, apologized (see transcript),
and the statement stricken
from the record. However, its impact on the jury was made.

Detective Bergin was allowed to use injurious comments made by
third party non-testifying witnesses. Were that to be done today,
Joe would be granted an automatic new trial.

The Judge, during his final remarks to the jury concerning the fact that
there was no direct evidence (see excerpt),
spoke at length to
them about "circumstantial evidence." He used the phrase "moral certainty"
nine times. Were that to happen today, Joe's case would have been
thrown out as creating a standard of proof based on innuendo and
likely causing confusion in juror's minds between moral certainty
and "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Bear in mind also, a common
phrase used by draft resistors at that time was that they were
"morally opposed" to the war.

As stated earlier, our mission is to obtain justice for Joe
Labriola. And by that, we mean FREEDOM. We are going to adapt,
improvise, and overcome any and all obstacles, and we will seek out
the truth because our mission is clear: FREE JOE LABRIOLA! He will
never be left behind!

Note:

Joe accepts direct correspondence. He is a
prolific writer, and he will reply at once if you write
to him directly at:

Joe Labriola
D1
P.O. Box 1218
Shirley, MA 01464

You can also reach Joe via email that we will pass along to him.
He has no online access. Send any messages you have for him
to the address below (include a street address for his return letter):